No Prisoners, No MercyHost: Julie Whitefeather & Frances KosacThere comes a time, friends, when your favorite MMO ceases to sparkle, when even new videogames lose their luster, and the computer room becomes a prison; and all that is left are two gamers (who happen to be nuns) with a very large axe to grind. Come join Julie Whitefeather and Frances Kosac as they go to War - and along the way discuss the events of the week in the MMO industry.

'And it goes right back...' by JmoSubmitted on 2008-09-14 23:34:21 CSTGreat show again. NPNM has quickly become my most looked forward to podcast. I can't wait to hear the latest from you and Fran. The first "I'm Mad as Hell" in the show just seems to add on to the biggest problem plaguing online games, in general, lately. That being the problem with what happens when people hide behind what they feel is their cloak of anonymity.

You talked about it in the first or second show when you said "Pixels are People Too," and went on to talk about how some people can become total asses in game. They seem to forget that there are real people at the other end of the internet that is reading what they have to say. When you send Death Threats to a game publisher, you've got a serious problem. But I guarantee that the the people who wrote those letter/emails are the same that are total asshats in game.

I'm an article writer for the website I help work on and even wrote an article about this whole issue after the first show you mentioned it. There are a few insightful comments that people left on how they felt on the subject. You can check it out here if you feel the need. http://www.notaddicted.com/node/285

And of course, the topic always makes me think of one of my favorite Penny-Arcade comments. Warning, this has some not-so-kosher language and may be NSFW. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/3/19/

Anyway, enough of my ranting. The subject is something that's always intrigued me. Keep up the good work. =)

'You know...for a fat girl...' by ChecksixSubmitted on 2008-09-15 08:43:01 CSTJust kidding you know I love you guys.

Regarding "borrowing" lore, look up the term Orc. Tolken. Who used Elves as we know them today...Tolken. A war between Men, Dwarves, Elves vs Orcs, Goblins, Ogres etc....Tolken.

EVERYONE borrows from their fore fathers. EVERYONE. WAR created a nice fantasy world and I wouldn't have taken that away from them BUT they owe their roots to Tolken. World of Warcraft may owe some of it's roots to Warhammer...but face it they both borrow (or steal or whatever) from Tolken.

Saying it bothers you to borrow lore and doesn't bother you steal lore...that's splitting hairs.

'OOPS' by ChecksixSubmitted on 2008-09-15 13:06:06 CSTI meant to say "Saying it bothers you to borrow lore and doesn't bother you to steal MECHANICS...that's splitting hairs.

[NO POST before coffee...BAD CHECKSIX *whap*]

'An example to clarify' by JulieSubmitted on 2008-09-15 15:44:07 CSTHere is an oversimplified example - I don't mind one company borrowing another's game mechanics at a basic level. For example, not every game I have been in has an auction house, not every game I have ever been in is controlled by "W,A,S,D" - in fact voyage century, a korea import that is supported by microtransactions has neither.

What I do mind is "borrowing" wholesale the lore and artwork from another developer. Did Blizzard get up one morning and say "hey I know, big shoulder armor on orcs!" or did they take a look at Warhammer when it was a tabletop game and say "wow look at the shoulder armor on those orcs - that looks really distinctive - great idea!"

Julie

'Ok...' by ChecksixSubmitted on 2008-09-15 15:51:50 CSTBy that token, did the inventors of Warhammer wake up one day and say "A war between good and evil where Good is Man, Elves, Dwarves and Evil beings like Orcs, Goblins and Ogres...great idea!"

Cause if they did, they stole from Tolken. See my point? They borrowed wholesale from those that came before them.

And I bet, I just bet I can find an art example of big shoulder armor that predates Warhammer.

Wanna put 5 bucks on it?

'An example to clarify' by JulieSubmitted on 2008-09-15 15:59:22 CSTHere is an oversimplified example - I don't mind one company borrowing another's game mechanics at a basic level. For example, not every game I have been in has an auction house, not every game I have ever been in is controlled by "W,A,S,D" - in fact voyage century, a korea import that is supported by microtransactions has neither.

What I do mind is "borrowing" wholesale the lore and artwork from another developer. Did Blizzard get up one morning and say "hey I know, big shoulder armor on orcs!" or did they take a look at Warhammer when it was a tabletop game and say "wow look at the shoulder armor on those orcs - that looks really distinctive - great idea!"

Julie

'What can I say...' by JulieSubmitted on 2008-09-15 16:01:46 CST...except hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned.

Perhaps this: Warhammer - love it or hate it, very few people seem to have no opinion.

'@ Julie' by JmoSubmitted on 2008-09-15 16:47:56 CSTSo True. I can't think of the last time I've seen a game released that had so much of an opinionated fan base. Not in a bad way either. There has been no "middle-of-the-road" article written about WAR to date. It's either been "Love it and can't wait to play it" or "This game sucks and steals from all of the other games with nothing really new." I'll be interested to see the final reviews come the 18th.

In all honesty, the post was meant as a compliment, and I'm sorry it did not come off exactly like that.

What I was trying to say was that your podcast is enjoyable due to the style you both approach it with. Most people worry about getting exact names and stats correct before they talk about something, which can limit their input and scope, and you two instead just go off the cuff and talk freely, which makes for a refreshing podcast.

At times that style leads to an incorrect description, and that's usually something that bothers me (hence the head shake comment), but not the case here. I would rather get honest opinions from a unique perspective then a recount of an exact character build, if that makes sense.

Yea I don't know if that explained it any better... I know what I mean in my head haha.

Another enjoyable show, even if you did take a shot at one point. All in good fun I hope?

'contacting the show' by JulieSubmitted on 2008-09-16 17:37:00 CSTThere are those who claim I would get lost on my way to the pathroom at night. They may or may not be correct (and I will never tell). However the truth of the matter is that there are so MANY different accounts and so MANY different passwords (including high security passwords that rotate on what seems like a constant basis) that I can't, at the moment, remember my skype account.

HOWEVER

I am sure about the email address, which is as follows

noprisonersnomercy@gmail.com

Somewhere there is a skype account, but as I am not always on the computer that has it, it is perhaps best to use the gmail, account.